FJ40 I call Shipwreck

[SuperBuickGuy]

more work


and the t-case is flatter to the frame...

[SuperBuickGuy]

So starting to lay out how this is going to look... tomorrow, I'm picking up my axles whether they're done or not - if not, I'll do it myself, he said 2 weeks, it's been 3. No biggie, saves me money

so this is where the vehicle will rest at rest with the 38s under it. I also plan on making it tall enough that if I have a brain fart and decide I really want to run 44s again, it won't be anything to get enough clearance


and I started laying out the front as well, a lot of this needs to be in place to build the headers... including mounting the steering box


so I appropriated a set of seats that will probably land in the Spider - and realized that the bolsters will make it a pita to get into the vehicle - the seat height is kind of dictated by the gas tank under the passenger seat. I could move it (the tank) under the floor in the back, but that creates its own problems as well... with that said, I'm not sure I like vertical, rather than relaxed seating... so a decision will be made before I replace the box with steel


I also stole the steering column from the Buick.... I'm actually going to put a column shift in the Buick, so this column wouldn't work for that


anyway, next is setting the pedals and brake/clutch stuff in place... all for the purpose of building headers....

[SuperBuickGuy]

carrying on
mark


cut


use 9" ford truss? no


smaller truss, yes

[SuperBuickGuy]

One thing is not like the other






I thought they simply pressed these into place, then welded the brake ring... I have no idea how they did the one with the smooth transition - interesting stuff (at least to me)..

[Loren]

Well, you're in deep now... I had believed those ends were upset/swaged out of the tubing (think of how the head of a bolt is formed, and then how the end of a welding-gas cylinder is closed down after the tube is punched from a blank of red-hot steel) and I think the smooth-transitioned one on the left shows that. The one on the right? Can't say, but probably just a weirded-out effect from the same process, and thus because of how it's done, there's just one piece of steel there - not two. Not all floating-axle housing ends are done that way, some are multi-piece and bolt together, a forged end going onto a formed-out tube flange. Anyhow, every bit of load that the huge wheel/tire you put on there gets...up, down, in, out, and side-impact... will be carried through right where you're going to be welding (unlike a semi-float where the housing takes vehicle weight only), so besides aligning/fixturing up the end from the outside, (how, is something you're going to have to invent) you'll wanna be doing your best welding there. I wouldn't rule out doing some super-good penetration and then applying/welding an additional steel band over that, and then you'll be checking alignment again and heat-straightening with a rosebud torch if you have to. Back again, to whatever alignment fixture you're going to be making up...

...but then, as far as alignment goes, you may get by just having very-square ends on each part to be joined, then welding away. If you're close, only a bit of wheel alignment will be affected and the axles will probably take it OK.

The one floating-axle rear housing I've done, I worked from the other ends of the axle tubes and blew out all those (5 each side) plug welds holding them into the cast housing (a b*tch of a job right there) and shortened and re-pressed them in. No touchie on the outer ends. If you ever were to do that you have to be sure to not stress across the open center casting while pushing and pulling on axle tubes or you'll press it out of shape and that's the end of that, ask me how I know...

Obviously you will likely be moving perches and brackets around, if you do then it's better to align/weld the ends last so you're not being affected by welding warpage out on the ends after you did all that work to get them on straight. It will happen...

Another way to get a narrower (GM at-least) floating-axle assembly is to take a seventies-eighties 3/4-ton single-wheel housing and axles and just use one-ton-dually hubs and backing plates from a cab/chassis application such as a flatbed truck, (not the wide pickup kind) which have more inward offset then the single-wheel ones...they swap right on. Once you press out all of the eight wheel studs, the brake drum will separate from the hub and you can switch to the 3/4-ton drum which only weighs a hundred pounds instead of two hundred by my guess (J/K). What width do you get?...I can measure if you want, that's how I did my Wagoneer and it was a lot easier. There are three widths you can get that way...stock, narrow one-side only if you can work with the resultant driveshaft offset (or if you need to) and are OK with seeing more hub stick out one wheel than the other, and of-course narrow both sides. Another route is to get a dually housing in the first place and switch to single-wheel drums and plates. The axles themselves, between the (again, '70s-80s GM single- and dual-wheel units) are the same. If one were to want disc brakes on the rear instead of drums, it seems to me like it should be possible enough to adapt onto the drum-brake hubs using newer truck parts or fabricating something lighter.

Am not trying to be Mr. Advice-Guy, just throwing in some thoughts.

...and, edit, the single- and dual-wheel housings have the brake backing plate brkt welded on at a different depth. One works for the "narrow" deal and the other has to be cut loose and re-positioned. Can't remember which one has it in the right place......but I think it's the dually one. There is definitely a little mixing-and-matching to be done, but no fabricating if you have the right parts.

[SuperBuickGuy]

those are all awesome ideas... so let me bounce what I was thinking last night
1) I can buy ends from extreme4x4 - they're like $300 for a pair - but they are 3.00 OD, the tube is 3.25 with .375 walls.... which means I'd have to turn down those flanges....
2) I can buy dana 60 front spindles and simply weld them onto the ends (they're billet, and a couple dollars cheaper than the above). If I do this, I'll put a steel ring on the tube then bolt through the ring, and weld the ring to the axle tubes.
3) do like your suggestion, weld them back on only shorter, with a wrap to brace the weld. Fortunately, the fixture I have to weld these together screws to the spindle - thus it holds every point mechanically.... of course, this is also the cheapest method.

and I'm thinking #3... the only real down side is if I ever go to 35 or 40 spline axles, I'll have to figure out a way to drill the center out to greater than 1.57 inches... if I use number 1, that problem would be solved.

[Loren]

Always good to have different ways to do things. Are Dana 60 fronts the same as the rear specs? Interesting, I had no idea. I wonder if the 35/40 spline would ever be necessary? . http://www.s10extremist.org/tech_art...t_strength.htm Price for the Extremem4x4 part is high but it might be nice to shortstop a headache later

[SuperBuickGuy]

Always good to have different ways to do things. Are Dana 60 fronts the same as the rear specs? Interesting, I had no idea. I wonder if the 35/40 spline would ever be necessary? . http://www.s10extremist.org/tech_art...t_strength.htm Price for the Extremem4x4 part is high but it might be nice to shortstop a headache later

I don't know for certain, but if you look to order bearings, locking nuts, and seals - they're all the same part number

[SuperBuickGuy]

I got the alignment tools.... and one bit doesn't work, I learned something - there is a different size end on the old dana 60s and the later ones... what year that is that changes it, I dunno... no biggie, I was going to hybrid the ends eventually anyway - so I've ordered some 14 bolt ends from ballistic fab. In other news, I don't know how I pulled it off, but I cut the axle perfectly for this exercise. anyway, I'll push this out tonight, I need to put the cv joints and rebuild the lower arms on my H3 - which is a lot easier on the lift - and I'll do that Sunday... after, I probably will roll the D2 back into the shop and see if I can make noise with it... I need to pull the transmission and seal it, also figure out why the transfer case won't go into 4lock... I don't need the '40 in the shop while I do the axles, so it goes outside for a bit

[Loren]

there is a different size end on the old dana 60s and the later ones...

Earlier ones, like from '60s-70s pickups, can have 30 spline axles, same as a 44. Those truck Dana 60 diffs were for durability, not ultimate strength, so they didn't put fat axles in. Later they did. GM 14-bolts, full-float, are nearly half-again as strong as one of those 30-spline 60s, a much better deal.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Earlier ones, like from '60s-70s pickups, can have 30 spline axles, same as a 44. Those truck Dana 60 diffs were for durability, not ultimate strength, so they didn't put fat axles in. Later they did. GM 14-bolts, full-float, are nearly half-again as strong as one of those 30-spline 60s, a much better deal.

the early ones also have 10 spline axles... 30 spline came later (like 1970)... 35 spline is kind of aftermarket, but it doesn't cost much more to do that since I'm already buying new axles and putting a locker in the rear.... the new material 30 spline axles (4130) are 40% stronger, and the 35 spline are 40% again stronger....unobtainium axles are 45 spline, and wayyyyyy more expensive. The 14 bolt's greater strength comes from its case and the additional pinion bearing... but it also weighs like another 200 lbs.

[STINEY]

Just to add some options to the front link suspension stuff.....



I didn't think you had enough options on your plate. Enjoy!

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-willys/1218218-project-willys-mb-lsx-2013-chile-5.html

[Deaf Bob]

Is tht a flipped Eaton?

[silver_bullet]

WOW!! what a set up!

[SuperBuickGuy]

I thought seriously about the radius arm set up, I don't think it's strong enough for the weight/hp/tire size of my rig